Tag: blindness

Edinburgh AI eyecare innovation to be ‘game-changer’ for NHS staff and patients

A formal NHS Scotland partner has welcomed the prospect of eyecare waiting times being cut thanks to new artificial intelligence (AI) innovation, calling it ‘a real showcase of homegrown expertise’.

Edinburgh-based Eye to the Future’s clinical software support tools are designed to help optometrists optimise referrals to hospital eye services during a critical period which has seen NHS ophthalmology waiting lists grow by 138% since 2012.

The company’s innovative, collaboration-driven technology – incorporating background technology developed by the Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee – analyses images from routine eye examinations to help identify early signs of conditions like glaucoma and reduce blindness.

It has also commanded widespread interest which has led to strong support – from universities and eye care professionals to Scottish Enterprise, Scottish Edge, Innovate UK, and more.

InnoScot Health’s Innovation Manager Frances Ramsay believes that Eye to the Future, a culmination of 20 years of collaborative research, represents an important Scottish success story.

She said: “Harnessing the potential of software like this could be a game-changer for both NHS Scotland staff and patients by optimising existing resources and adopting a more efficient approach to tackling backlogs.

“Eye to the Future has benefited from a package of support to transform academic research into commercial technology. This very much mirrors our approach at InnoScot Health – tapping into the vast knowledge and expertise across NHS Scotland, before collaborating further to turn ideas into commercial reality, and importantly, improving patient outcomes.

“It shows how just one individual’s moment of inspiration can lead to a big impact when the knowledge and support of others is drawn upon to catalyse great ideas, echoing our own assistance for pressured ophthalmology through the encouragement of Scotland’s next generation of clinical entrepreneurs.”

Professor Emanuele Trucco, co-founder of Eye to the Future said: “Only 24% of NHS eye units currently believe they have enough consultants to meet demand.

“By using sophisticated analytics tools to help optometrists make more accurate referral decisions, we can ensure the right patients get specialist care at the right time, while reducing unnecessary hospital appointments. This is crucial as every delay risks worsening eye conditions and ultimately irreversible sight loss.”

Eye to the Future was named runner-up in the Converge Challenge category of the 2022 Converge Awards, which works in close partnership with universities to encourage academic entrepreneurs.

Through Converge, the company received funding – part of a broader package of support – to help accelerate, what Professor Trucco called, “academic research towards real commercial impact,” while benefitting from “valuable insights into how our technology could make a meaningful difference to patients and clinicians”.

Frances continued: “We wish Eye to the Future well as it prepares to launch its product this year, with a pilot currently underway at Glasgow Caledonian University’s School of Optometry.”

More innovative solutions are needed to tackle growing pressure on NHS eye care across Scotland with ideas welcomed through InnoScot Health’s ophthalmology innovation call. It offers a package of support for NHS Scotland staff including advice and guidance in areas of intellectual property protection, regulation, funding, project management, and commercialisation.

The organisation has supported and worked with innovators on solutions including Peekaboo Vision, an app created by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and the iGrading platform, a diabetic retinopathy screening tool developed alongside NHS Grampian and the University of Aberdeen.

Research experts set for Scotland eye health meet

The latest research taking place to help find a cure for one of the biggest causes of blindness will take centre stage in a Scotland-wide event.

Experts in the field of macular disease research will join the talk, including leading ophthalmology researcher professor Baljean Dhillion of the University of Edinburgh.

The online talks will take place over an hour on Zoom on Wednesday 13 September, 11am-12pm.

The event is overseen by sight loss charity the Macular Society, which is the only UK charity solely dedicated to funding research for macular disease. It supports people of all ages with a macular condition, of which some conditions have treatments to help people manage their central vision, though there is no cure.

Professor of clinical ophthalmology Baljean Dhillon will discuss some of the latest treatments available, as well as ongoing research into the fight against age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The Macular Society’s Sarah Clinton will provide an update on research projects funded by the charity, as well as the audience having the opportunity to put their questions to the experts.

To register for the event please email the Macular Society at groupsadmin@macularsociety.org or call 01264 560 259 who will then be able to provide the Zoom link.

Nearly 1.5 million people are currently affected by macular disease and many more are at risk. The disease can have a devastating effect on people’s lives, leaving them unable to drive, read or see faces.

Many people affected describe losing their sight as being similar to bereavement. There is still no cure and most types of the disease are not treatable. AMD is the most common form of macular disease, affecting more than 600,000 people, usually over the age of 50.

For general information on macular disease, call the Macular Society on 0300 3030 111 or email help@macularsociety.org

Breakthrough in how diabetes causes vision loss

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast have uncovered a key process that contributes to vision loss and blindness in people with diabetes. The findings could lead to new treatments that can be used before any irreversible vision loss has occurred. 

Diabetic retinopathy is a common complication of diabetes and occurs when high blood sugar levels damage the cells at the back of the eye, known as the retina. There are no current treatments that prevent the advancement of diabetic retinopathy from its early to late stages, beyond the careful management of diabetes itself. As a result, a significant proportion of people with diabetes still progress to the vision-threatening complications of the disease. 

As the number of people with diabetes continues to increase globally, there is an urgent need for new treatment strategies, particularly those that target the early stages of the disease to prevent vision loss. 

The retina demands a high oxygen and nutrient supply to function properly. This is met by an elaborate network of blood vessels that maintain a constant flow of blood even during daily fluctuations in blood and eye pressure. The ability of the blood vessels to maintain blood flow at a steady level is called blood flow autoregulation. The disruption of this process is one of the earliest effects of diabetes in the retina. 

The breakthrough made by researchers at Queen’s University Belfast pinpoints the cause of these early changes to the retina.

The study, published in the US journal JCI Insight, has discovered that the loss of blood flow autoregulation during diabetes is caused by the disruption of a protein called TRPV2. Furthermore, they show that disruption of blood flow autoregulation even in the absence of diabetes causes damage closely resembling that seen in diabetic retinopathy. 

The research team are hopeful that these findings will be used to inform the development of new treatments that preserve vision in people with diabetes. 

Professor Tim Curtis, Deputy Director at the Wellcome-Wolfson Institute for Experimental Medicine at Queen’s and corresponding author, explains: “We are excited about the new insights that this study provides, which explain how the retina is damaged during the early stages of diabetes. 

“By identifying TRPV2 as a key protein involved in diabetes-related vision loss, we have a new target and opportunity to develop treatments that halt the advancement of diabetic retinopathy.” 

The study was funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the Department for the Economy Postgraduate Studentship scheme.